Friday Features: CBU Men's Basketball Making Noise
By Maurice Patton
Mike Nienaber has no intention of his team’s first win of the year being its biggest win of the year.
The veteran Christian Brothers men’s basketball coach expects his Buccaneers to be in the thick of the Gulf South Conference race this season – and they served notice while gaining a little national notoriety with their 74-70 overtime win against perennial NCAA Division I tournament contender Memphis in an exhibition matchup at the FedEx Forum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Since the Nov. 12 contest, CBU has gotten out to a 4-1 start with a pair of GSC victories coming into this weekend’s pair of home games with Delta State and Mississippi College.
“We’re trying to get past it,” said Nienaber, the all-time leader in coaching victories at CBU, regarding the ESPN SportsCenter highlight win. “But it’s one of those things that, when you’re living in the town, it never goes away. For 95 percent of the population, that’s all they’re going to remember. That’s all they care about. A lot don’t even know how you did your last three games, but they know you beat Memphis.
“We always get good exposure out of it. Two out of three games, we’ll usually play them close, battle them. But I don’t think anybody expects us to beat them. It’s a night these guys will remember the rest of their lives, but we don’t want that to be what this team is defined by, at least in our own world.”
For the Bucs, the win had a short shelf life as they went to Harding three nights later for their official season opener and grabbed a 72-61 triumph.
The recipe for success in both those victories was what Nienaber expects it to be all season – the senior perimeter/post tandem of Trey Casey and Sidy Sall. Casey came into the week as the top scorer in the GSC (22.0 ppg), while Sall is among the scoring (15.8) and rebounding (9.2) leaders in the conference.
“We felt like coming into the season we had the potential to be pretty good,” Nienaber said. “The ‘X’ factor on our team is Sidy. When he plays well, we have a chance to beat anybody.
“Trey is obviously recognized as our feature player, and Ryan (Fleming) is so consistent. Sidy has tended to have some ups and downs. As he settles in and becomes more consistent, that’s a real key for us.”
Casey, classmate Fleming (12.0 ppg) and freshman Jeff Larkin (7.6 ppg) all come from the same high school program, LaSalle in Cincinnati. That also happens to be Nienaber’s high school alma mater, and the connection has paid off for the Bucs.
“They won state their senior year,” he said, referring to Casey and Fleming, whose father is LaSalle’s head coach. “Before their junior year, some of our alumni went up there and helped them put their offense in. So when they and Larkin came in, I didn’t have to teach them anything. They’ve come in really polished and with a good idea of what we’re doing.”
Larkin, a cousin of former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, was pressed into duty early and made a couple of starts following a preseason injury to Drew Hildreth. He responded by earning GSC Freshman of the Week honors.
That type depth will pay dividends for CBU as the season progresses, but for the most part, things will revolve around Casey.
“Trey’s a great offensive player,” Nienaber said. “He’s got great range from the 3-point line, from NBA 3-point range. But if you go out on him, he can go around you and score on penetration. What you love about him, though, is he’s a great teammate. If somebody wants to completely clamp him, he’s more than happy to give the hall up and let somebody else score.”
Maintaining that unselfish attitude, and keeping the past in the past, will key CBU’s performance as the season progresses.
“We’ve got to understand – when we go out in conference play, all these guys are used to winning,” Nienaber said. “You’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game ever night or you’re liable to get beat.
“As cliché as it is, you’ve got to take them one at a time.”
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11/14/2014 - Revival of a Rivalry.
11/21/2014 - VSU's Margaret Stauffer Finds Strength in Team, Family.
11/28/2014 - Union Off and Running.
12/05/2014 - UWA Coach Ray Stanfield Pushes Cross Country Teams to Top.